A comparison of short form Marlowe–Crowne and “best friends” social desirability bias measures
Marketing Intelligence & Planning
ISSN: 0263-4503
Article publication date: 1 January 2024
Issue publication date: 23 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to compare two different types of measures of social desirability bias (SDB), a short form of the Marlowe–Crowne measure, a popular direct measure, and an example of a projective technique where half of the respondents record the views of their “best friends”.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected using an online survey of members of a consumer panel. The context chosen to test the SDB measures was that of attitudes toward counterfeit products and xenocentrism in Colombia. Counterfeit proneness, attitude toward counterfeit products and consumer xenocentrism were selected as variables likely to be affected by SDB. Vertical and horizontal collectivism were included as variables likely to influence the first group of variables while not being themselves subject to SDB.
Findings
The projective technique consistently identified higher levels of SDB effects, as hypothesized. Marked differences emerged in the apparent strength of the relationships between the operational constructs depending upon which measure of SDB was used. At times, whether any such relationship might exist depended on the SDB measure used. Contrary to some prior work, no systematic gender effects were identified using either approach.
Originality/value
The first study to provide evidence of the comparative effects of different types of measures of SDB in research into ethical issues. One of the few to demonstrate how apparent relationships between variables can be created by SDB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) (No: 430-2019-01002). The authors would like to thank Laura Robledo Restrepo from Carleton University for helping collect the data.
Citation
Rojas-Méndez, J.I. and Davies, G. (2024), "A comparison of short form Marlowe–Crowne and “best friends” social desirability bias measures", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 329-345. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-06-2023-0258
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited